UIC researchers to study pastoral counseling

CHICAGO – The University of Illinois at Chicago will receive a three-year $85,000 grant from a philanthropic foundation to study the counseling experiences of pastors.

Funding from The John Templeton Foundation will help university researchers examine the strengths and struggles pastors face while counseling as well as training methods pastors feel might make them more effective.

University officials say they will interview 40 pastors from urban churches and identify the commonalities of their experiences.

The grant also will fund a project to explore the decision-making process that pastors undergo when counseling and how that process correlates to their views of purpose and religious vocation.

University officials say they plan to publish two research papers and create a website highlighting their findings.